


black-eyed susan

by meretricula



Series: Where Have All The Flowers Gone? [2]
Category: Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
Genre: F/M, Incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-04
Updated: 2010-01-04
Packaged: 2017-10-05 18:20:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/44677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meretricula/pseuds/meretricula
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"For heaven's sake," Susan snapped, her patience exhausted. "It's all very well to play at houses with your brother when you're a little girl, but sooner or later you have to grow up and leave him behind! And that means going out and dancing and doing things you can't with boys you're related to!"</p><p>"I wouldn't want to grow up if I had to do it alone," Lucy said. "I don't know how you could."</p>
            </blockquote>





	black-eyed susan

"What are you all dressed up for?" Lucy asked idly, settling down on her bed. Susan was seated at her mirror, carefully applying a layer of lipstick.

"I'm going out dancing with Richard tonight." Susan frowned at her reflection, wiped away a smudge at the corner of her mouth, and straightened her hair.

Lucy was scowling now; Susan could see her expression in the mirror. "Is Richard the ginger-haired one who took you out over hols?"

"No, that was Daniel." Susan serenely finished her preparations and stood to inspect the overall effect. Her jacket was just the tiniest bit askew; she adjusted it carefully.

Lucy watched her, chewing on her lip. Finally she burst out, "I wish you would think about how poor Peter feels!"

"Peter?" Susan turned away from the mirror in surprise. "What on earth does Peter have to do with anything?"

"Don't be _stupid_, Susan, you know it upsets him to see you running around with a different boy every week! I don't know how you can _stand_ making him so unhappy. If it were Edmund - " Lucy stopped herself, looking away. "Well, I just wouldn't."

"Oh, Lucy, you aren't still playing those silly games with Edmund, are you?" Susan asked, only half paying attention as she checked her appearance in the mirror again.

"Is that all this is to you?" Lucy demanded. "A _game_?"

"For heaven's sake," Susan snapped, her patience exhausted. "It's all very well to play at houses with your brother when you're a little girl, but sooner or later you have to grow up and leave him behind! And that means going out and dancing and doing things you can't with boys you're related to!"

"I wouldn't want to grow up if I had to do it alone," Lucy said. "I don't know how you could."

"You always have to ruin everything," Susan said furiously. "Richard is a very nice boy and I am going to go out and enjoy myself, and you can just sit there and think about your precious Edmund if it's so important to you! Good _night_!" She slammed out of the room, not even bothering with one final glance in the mirror. It wouldn't have mattered if she had; she looked perfect.

~*~

After the rest of the house had gone to sleep - Susan had ignored her when she came back in, for which she was rather grateful - Lucy crept out of her and her sister's bedroom and snuck down the hall to the room Edmund shared with Peter. She made her way without even a candle to guide her, and her feet avoided noisy floorboards out of long habit.

Edmund was curled up against the wall, leaving enough space for Lucy to crawl into his bed. She immediately yanked the covers up over both of them. Peter's presence was something of a problem: he would never betray them, but Lucy knew that he hated to be reminded of her relationship with Edmund, and as far as she was concerned, Susan made Peter miserable enough already. "Ed, are you awake?" she whispered.

"Of course." He rolled over and kissed her, his arms wrapping around her, but it was hot under the covers and Lucy's heart wasn't in it. "Lucy, what's wrong?"

"Do you suppose Susan even remembers Narnia anymore?"

Lucy couldn't see Edmund's thoughtful look in the dark, but she knew he was wearing one. He ran a gentle hand through her hair, then rubbed soothingly at the nape of her neck. "I suppose she might think of it as a dream, or a game we made up while we were staying with the Professor. I don't think she could have forgotten entirely. It's harder for Susan than it is for you, dearest," he added, because Edmund was always fair. "She doesn't have your faith."

"If she would just _try_, maybe it wouldn't be so hard," Lucy said, frustrated.

"Maybe she feels safer not trying." Lucy could feel Edmund's hot breath against her face, and moved closer. He kissed her again, and again, until the heat and lack of air made her dizzy. She fell back against the pillows and pulled the covers down to suck in the cooler air. Edmund caught her hand in his, rubbing his thumb patiently over the pulse point in her wrist while she caught her breath. "Did you have a fight with Susan, sweetling?"

Lucy sighed, molding her body to all the curves in Edmund's that might as well have been made to fit hers. "I just... I don't understand how she can want to grow up by herself. I'd go crazy. And Peter..." She tucked her face into Edmund's neck, all too aware that their older brother was on the other side of the room, breathing quietly in the dark. Peter never snored, so there was no way of telling, short of going up to his bed and shaking him, whether he was asleep. "I wish they were happier."

"I don't see how you can make them be, while we live in England, at least. And even if we were in Narnia... they make their own choices, Lucy. You can't do it for them."

"It seems like such a silly thing to worry about, when people are dying all around the world," Lucy said, "but do you suppose we'll ever get back to Narnia for good?"

"Maybe. I don't think it's as important as all that, in the end. You remember, and I remember, and we know it was real - Aslan, and being Kings and Queens, and all the rest. Even if we never go back, Narnia will always be a part of you."

Lucy was quiet for a few moments. "I don't know whether I should wish we could go back in time or forwards. I just want the war to end, and us to be old enough to go away together."

Edmund brushed a gentle kiss over her forehead. "Are you sure you want that, Lucy? I know it's hard sneaking around now, but when we leave... you'll never be able to see Mum and Susan and Peter again. And you'll always have me, no matter what you decide."

"Oh, don't be stupid, Ed. Of course I'm sure. And maybe Peter will visit," she added, a little wistfully.

"Maybe," Edmund said noncommittally.

~*~

Across the room, Peter lay awake in the dark and listened. He'd known they had a plan - Edmund always had a plan; it was why he'd been such an excellent strategist in Narnia - but only vaguely, from snippets of overheard conversations caught here and there. But Lucy would never be happy with half-measures and secrecy, and Edmund would never allow Lucy to be unhappy if he could help it, so of course sooner or later they would have to leave.

Peter could not help the sting in his throat that his first urge, even now, was to tell Susan. Once she would have listened, and they would have worked out what to do together. But now Susan was a different person from Queen Susan the Gentle, a strange girl with lipstick and fashionable hair and a crowd of boys who tripped over each other to carry her books and take her out to dinner. This new strange Susan would not listen, nor would she be of any help if she did.

Peter missed his sister, and even more than that he missed his queen. He could not help but wonder at how going to Narnia, and leaving Narnia, and growing up two separate times brought Lucy and Edmund even closer together, when it only seemed to drive him and Susan apart.

Maybe, he thought, it was time to talk to Lucy and Edmund. Maybe he would go with them, when they left.


End file.
